


Waiting in silence for the sky to explode

by trinipedia



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: AU, Challenge Response, Community: Apocabigbang, Fanfiction, J2AU, M/M, Slash, The Last Unicorn AU, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-21
Updated: 2011-04-21
Packaged: 2018-09-17 05:34:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,955
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9307667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trinipedia/pseuds/trinipedia
Summary: Unicorns are as old as the sky, old as the moon; they can be hunted, trapped...they can even be killed, but they don't just vanish. There has never been a time without unicorns, and there never will be; an ominous prophecy passed from mouth to mouth for century connects the disappearance of unicorns with the end of the world as we know it. That's why it's up to the last unicorn there is to embark on a quest to find the others. On his journey, he'll meet friends and foes alike: magicians, witches, kings and bulls. He'll have to be braver and stronger than he has ever been, if he wishes to save not only his species, but all of humanity. And if along the way he'll be forced to learn what love and regret are, well, that's just a small price to pay.





	1. ~ 01 ~

**Author's Note:**

> This fic belongs to [](http://ala-tariel.livejournal.com/profile)[ala_tariel](http://ala-tariel.livejournal.com/), who won a fic of mine and I've never finished it for her. I'm so, so sorry babes, I really hope this is good enough for you :(
> 
>  **Amazingly Amazing Artist:** [](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/profile)[deadflowers5](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/) [ART MASTERPOST](http://deadflowers5.livejournal.com/95548.html)
> 
>  **Beta:** [](http://xanateria.livejournal.com/profile)[xanateria](http://xanateria.livejournal.com/), who is sweet, lovely and made me the best ending picture I could have ever wished for.
> 
>  **Disclaimer:**  not mine in any way, shape or form. Based on the movie/book "The Last Unicorn", so if there's anything you think you recognize, I probably didn't write it. Written for the [](http://apocabigbang.livejournal.com/profile)[apocabigbang](http://apocabigbang.livejournal.com/) challenge.
> 
>  **Special thanks:** to [](http://maya-freyja.livejournal.com/profile)[maya_freyja](http://maya-freyja.livejournal.com/) for helping me looking for the perfect ending picture <3

  
He was nothing but a shadow, following the men's footsteps as they moved around his forest.  
They didn't even notice him. It had been days since they ventured in, just a couple of hunters searching for game, but despite their fast horses and their trained hounds they hadn't been able to catch anything, not even a squirrel, or a lizard bathing in the sun. "I mislike the feel of these woods, Jake" the older one said, wrinkling his nose. His companion's horse trotted next to his, as the blond guy arched an eyebrow.  
  
"Well, yeah, we keep coming up empty-handed, but it has happened before! I don't see the big deal, Malik" he replied, but the other man shook his head.  
  
"Creatures that live in a unicorn's forest are bound to learn a little magic of their own, in time" he points out "mainly concerned with disappearing."  
  
Jake pulled his horse's reins, forcing it to a halt. "Unicorns?" he asked in disbelief, staring at Malik as if he had just grown a second head. "Come on, be serious! They only exist in fairy tales!" he exclaimed. "This is a forest, like any other. It's just bad luck."  
  
Malik smirked. "Then why there are no fallen leaves here? Or snow? Didn't you wonder why it's winter everywhere but here? Look at how green the trees are! We're walking through spring!"  
  
Jake threw a glance around, and he had to admit, begrudgingly, that the landscape was a little-unusual."But I've never thought...I mean, no one talks about them! No one actually mentions them! It makes no sense" he protested, and Malik sighed.  
  
"Well, I am talking about them. Or more specifically, him. There is only one unicorn left in the world, and he lives right in this forest."  
  
Suddenly, the absence of sounds and the still of the woods surrounding them made Jake feel uneasy. "If you're telling me that we'll find no game to hunt here, maybe we should just leave then" he murmured, almost reverently, his eyes narrowed trying to catch a glimpse of the mystical creature the stories of his childhood were replete with.  
  
Malik nodded. "Yeah, you're right. As long as he lets us go, we'd better turn around and go somewhere else." And of course he let them go, but he did follow them silently to the edge of the forest, intrigued by their conversation. That's why he heard perfectly well the last words Malik spoke before disappearing behind the trees. "I pity that poor beast" he said, his shoulders sagging a little. "This is no world for him anymore. All he can do is stay here, hidden, and protect the animals inhabiting the forest. He needs all the luck he can get, for he's the last."

 

  
Only once they were far enough for it to be safe, did the unicorn stepped out of his hideout.  
He was very old, but he didn't know it because he had been living alone for all his life and there had never been anyone around to show him the passing of time. Maybe once he had been the careless color of sea foam, but now he was rather the color of snow falling on a moonlight night. His mane was honey blonde, a lighter shade compared to what it used to be, as soft as dandelion fluff and as fine as cirrus. It fell in curls all around his powerful neck, reaching almost the middle of his back.  
  
He had pointed ears and strong, muscular legs, and his long horn shone and shivered with its own seashell light even in the deepest midnight, right above his eyes. The only thing that had never changed had been, in fact, his eyes. They were still clear and unwearied, of a dark, intense green, with alluring speckles of gold, and if anyone had ever stared into them too long they would have probably gotten lost in their unfathomable depths. He didn't look at all like a horned horse, which was how his kind was usually depicted, especially when he moved with that oldest, wildest grace that horses had never possessed, as swift and silent as a shadow on the sea.  
  
"I'm the only unicorn there is?" he asked himself, stunned. "The last?"  
  
He knew what that meant. He had heard the prophecy, like everyone else. He knew how important his kind was for the cosmic balance, how necessary their powers and strength were, and how there was never going to be a world without unicorns. The prophecy said:

 

  
"But I'm alive" the unicorn muttered "I'm alive. And besides, why would _I_ be the last?" He stepped closer to the lake, amongst the woods, to get some water to drink, but the hunters' words kept echoing in his head. "What do men know, anyway? It's not like we have all vanished just because they have seen no unicorns for a while." There had never been a time without unicorns: they lived forever, and were as old as the sky, old as the moon. Of course they could be hunted and trapped, they could even be killed if they dared leaving the protection of their woods, but it was simply impossible for all the unicorns in the world to have disappeared.  
  
"Am I truly the last?" he murmured, right before a red and purple butterfly fluttered right in front of his muzzle, startling him.

 

  
"I'm a roaming gambler," the butterfly said, settling on the unicorn's head. "How do you do?"  
  
"Welcome to my forest" the unicorn greeted him. "Have you traveled very far?"  
  
The butterfly didn't answer, but kept chirping some weird song swaying around the unicorn's head. The unicorn frowned."Be a little respectful, butterfly. Don't you know who I am?"  
  
"Of course I do!" the butterfly replied.  
  
"Say my name, then. If you know my name, tell it to me" the unicorn demanded, stepping backwards.  
  
"Your name is a golden bell hung in my heart," the butterfly replied. "It would break my body to pieces to call you once by your name."  
  
The unicorn stomped his hoof. "Say it, if you know" he repeated.  
  
"Rumpelstiltskin" the butterfly muttered, and the unicorn sighed.  
  
He should have known better than to expect a silly butterfly to know his name. He decided to change tactics. "Butterfly, in all your wanderings, have you seen others like me? Even one?" he inquired. The butterfly made a face and fluttered around some more. A sense of dread bloomed in the unicorn's heart: why was the butterfly stalling? "Tell me that you saw only one" he pleaded, but the butterfly didn't answer. "It serves right for even asking you" the unicorn snapped, turning away. "All butterflies know are songs and poetry."  
  
The butterfly flew a little closer, his expression guarded and a little sad, and the unicorn sighed again. _I guess he means well_ , he thought. "Just fly away, now. I hope you hear many more songs, but I must find someone who knows me and has maybe seen others like me."  
  
He was already walking away, gracefully, when the butterfly's tone suddenly went serious.  
"Unicorn" he stated. "Comes from Latin, _unicornus_ , which literally means _one-horned_. Unus, _one_ , and cornu, a _horn_. A fabulous animal resembling a horse with one horn, visible only to those who search and trust, and generally mistaken for a white mare." The unicorn's eyes went wide at the butterfly's words, but before he could actually say anything the butterfly spoke again. "Unicorn is your kind's name, _son of Ioanne_."  
  
"You do know me!" the unicorn exclaimed, surprised. The butterfly even knew his own name, which was something secret and sacred, so if there was someone who could help him, well. There was no one else. "Please, all I want to know is if you've seen other unicorns like me somewhere in the world. Are they really gone? Tell me which way I must go to find them, if they are!" he pleaded once more, and it was the butterfly's turn to sigh.  
  
"You can find the others if you are brave" he replied, in a low voice. "They passed down all the roads long ago, as the Red Bull ran close behind them and covered their footprints."  
  
The unicorn blinked. "Red Bull?"  
  
The butterfly settled next to one of the unicorn's hoofs. "The firstling bull has majesty, and his horns are those of a wild ox" he explained. "With them, he pushed the unicorns, all of them, to the ends of the earth."  
  
The unicorn shook his head, stepping back. "It can't be" he muttered to himself, before turning to the butterfly again. "Where are the other unicorns?" he urged him."And what is the Red Bull?"  
  
The butterfly simply shivered, threw him a last, sad look and flew away, ignoring the unicorn's voice calling him.

 

  
The unicorn lowered his head. The butterfly said he could find the other unicorns, but didn't say where; what if the story of the Red Bull had been just another of his songs? How was he supposed to know if any of it was real? The unicorn couldn't be sure, and he could never leave his forest following a fleeting trace like the one the butterfly had laid in front of him. However, it was equally true that he was not going to be able to go on living without knowing if he was really the only unicorn left in the world.  
  
He moved around, nervously, as the night fell down on him. "Suppose they're hiding together, somewhere far away" he murmured. "What if they're waiting for me, in need of my help?" The idea of hundreds of brothers, running away in terror, chased by a giant flaming bull was the last straw. Clenching his jaw, the unicorn galloped away. _I must go quickly, and come back as soon as I can_ he thought, as his forest, the place he had called home since he had memory, got smaller and smaller until it disappeared behind him. He never turned back.

 

  
The unicorn had been going, without stopping, for so long that seasons had started to change around him. He barely noticed, time was such a fluid concept for him, but he did feel the cold when the first snow started falling. He had been taking side roads, trying not to run into anyone or anything that could slow him down, but despite his efforts he did cross the path of a couple of farmers and travelers. All of them acted the same way with him and tried to capture him, mistaking him for a mare.  
  
A horse, that's what they took him for; a white, slender, beautiful horse was all they could see. None of them believed anymore, evidently, so the horn was not visible to them. At first, it had been a shock: he had forgotten that man couldn't see unicorns.  
  
But then again, perhaps it was a good thing. If men no longer knew what they were looking at, perhaps there were other unicorns in the world, after all, unknown and glad of it. At least he had some hope to lead him on.

 

  
He kept walking, on the road of men. The horizon rose up to meet the purple dawn, as clouds of dust made his eyes water, a shrieking eagle his only companion even if he never looked up at it. He was carrying such a heavy load in his heart, and he was hungry, weary and starting to lose faith, but he couldn't lay himself down. He had a mission, a purpose way more important, so he just kept going, under the cruel sun and the dreary rain, no time to look for shelter.  
  
After a while he realized that it was probably going to take longer than he expected, and there was no way he was going to be able to go back as quick as he hoped. The moon rose and set, disguising lonely streets in gay displays. Then the stars winked out, the night shade fell and turned the world in a scary place to be.  
  
None of it compared to the calming peace of his forest, and the unicorn felt a pang of longing for everything he left behind.  
  
His legs barely held him up anymore, so he just knelt down, under a tree, and let sleep claim him.

 


	2. ~ 02 ~

It was deep into the night when nine wagons, draped in black, drew by. There was a squat old woman driving the lead wagon, and as soon as she saw the unicorn, she pulled her horse to a stop and jumped down, as the rest of the wagon stopped as well, waiting patiently for her to do whatever it was she had stopped for.   
  
"Bless my old husk of a heart" she murmured, slowly approaching the creature."And here I thought I'd seen the last of them." She turned towards the other two drivers of the wagons. "You two" she hissed "come here."   
  
One of the men was short, with spiked blond hair and squinty eyes, and the other was incredibly tall, lanky and with an air of resolute bewilderment. He was wearing a dark cape and had floppy hair and hazel eyes. Maybe that useless wizard she hired would know what was in front of them, but she was not gonna tell him, she decided as they approached. _He'll think it's a horse, for sure_ she thought.  
  
"Now, what was there to stop for?" the blonde guy asked, sounding bored and annoyed.  
  
The woman didn't even acknowledge the comment, and pointed at the sleeping unicorn.  
"What do you think it is, Chad?" she inquired, her voice unnaturally sweet. "What do you see lying there?"  
  
Chad stared, with an arched eyebrow. "A dead horse" he answered, and the woman shook her head.  
  
"You're a fool" she said. “But then again, I already knew that." Then, she turned to her tall companion, narrowing her eyes. "What about you, wizard? What do you see with your sorcerer's sight?" But the man was lost in contemplation. In front of him, laying on frozen grass, was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.   
  
A unicorn, amongst misery and sadness. His heart warmed up instantly, and every single beautiful memory of the centuries he spent trapped in a young man's body came rushing to him in a perfect blissful second.  
  
Time stood still around him, and he was one with the world, but then the moment was broken when the woman grabbed the lapel of his cape and snapped him out of his reverie. "Answer me, you juggler!" she demanded, enraged, and the man swallowed, once more subjugated by the woman's power.  
  
Still, he couldn't betray the creature, so he just looked away. "I-I see a horse. Just a white mare."  
  
The woman chuckled, relieved, as she muttered. "I thought so. All right, it's a white mare and I want it for the carnival. The last cage is empty" she stated, a little louder.  
  
Chad shrugged. "I need a rope."  
  
The woman smirked. "The rope that can hold that mare has not been woven." she scoffed. "Cold iron bars will have to do." Just then, the unicorn groaned and shifted in his sleep.  
  
"He's waking!" the wizard exclaimed, but the woman only muttered a few words and put a sleep on him.  
  
"Now cage him," she ordered. "He'll sleep till sunrise."

 

  
Taking advantage of Chad being busy with his morning chores, the wizard quickly approached the unicorn's cage. The unicorn, still waking up, lifted his sleepy eyes on his face.  
They were so green, and the wizard was mesmerized by the sight _Who would have thought the creature would have been even more beautiful once awake?_ he thought wonderingly, but then Chad's stentorian voice reminded him he was on borrowed time.  
  
"I shouldn't be here" he whispered, getting closer, "but quickly, tell me what you see; look at your fellow legends and tell me what you see."  
  
The unicorn blinked, then turned towards the other cages. "What they call a manticore looks to be no more than a shabby, toothless lion, and it's a poor old ape with a twisted foot that they're taking for a satyr." The wizard nodded, his eyes lighting up.  
  
"Illusions, deceptions, mirages" the unicorn added. "That witch cannot truly change things, can she?"  
  
The wizard smiled. "That's true, she can only disguise and only for those eager to believe whatever comes easiest; she can't turn cream into butter, but she can make a lion look like a manticore to eyes that want to see a manticore." He clenched his fists. "I know you, though" he murmured. "Hell, if I were blind I would still know what you are."  
  
The unicorn looked at him with renewed interest. Here was just a man, and he still recognized what was truly before him. "Who are you?" he inquired.  
  
The wizard grinned, a grin so wide that dimples appeared on his cheeks. "I'm Jared, the magician" the guy introduced him, with a little bow. "I entertain the sightseers as they gather for the show; it's not much of a job for a real magician, but I've had worse" he explained, a little sheepishly.  
  
The unicorns turned on his other side when a sharp shriek interrupted their conversation; in the cage next to his there was a harpy - a very pissed off harpy. "That one's real" the unicorn said, stepping back. "That's the harpy Celaeno. What's she doing here?"  
  
Jared shrugged. "Samantha caught her by chance, asleep, like she took you."  
  
"She should never have meddled with a real harpy" the unicorn pointed out, and Jared nodded vigorously.  
  
"Truth melts magic, always," he agreed. "She's gonna free herself very soon now, and she must not catch you still caged."  
  
"Whatcha doing, Jared? Get away from there! You know what she told you!" Chad roared, and Jared stepped away. "Don't be afraid, I’m with you. Do nothing till you hear from me" he muttered quickly before leaving. The unicorn didn't have the time to acknowledge him, but then again, what else was he supposed to do?

 

  
"I don't care how many damn spells you've got on her! Get rid of that harpy!"  
  
Night had fallen, and Chad was pacing nervously under Celaeno's burning eyes. "I think about what she's goin' to do to us, all the time," he said, hoarsely. "Get rid of her, I say."  
  
Samantha groaned. "Fool!" she replied."No other witch in the world has ever held a harpy captive, and none ever will. I choose to keep her; even if she kills me, she will still be mine."  
Chad cursed and stomped away, as Samantha chuckled, satisfied, before approaching the unicorn's cage. "The harpy's as real as you are, and just as immortal, but you already knew that" she said, smugly. "You both were so easy to capture, after all."  
  
The unicorn narrowed his eyes. "Do not boast, woman" he growled. "Your death is in that cage and she can hear you."   
  
Samantha snorted. "Oh, she'll kill me one day or another. I know that. But she will remember forever that I caught her and held her prisoner; there's my immortality."  
  
The unicorn shook his head, speechless, because following humans' twisted logic the words actually made sense.  
  
"As for you" the witch continued "you were out on the road hunting for your own death, and I know where it awaits you."  
  
The unicorn's attention was instantly focused on her."You know about the Red Bull?" he asked. "Tell me if you do, and where he is, if you know!"  
  
Samantha pondered. "The Red Bull of King Beaver...how do you know about it?" Before the unicorn could answer, the witch just huffed. "Well, it doesn't matter. He'll never get you. You belong to me."  
  
The unicorn sighed. "You know better" he tried to reason with her.  
"Keep your poor shadows, if you will, but let me and Celaeno go. We're two sides of the same magic, and-"  
  
"Do you think I don't know what the true witchery is, just because I do what I do?" Samantha roared, stomping her feet. "There's not a witch in the world who hasn't laughed at Samantha and her homemade horrors. And still..."  
  
"The harpy and me-we're not for you" the unicorn tried again.  
  
"Who are you for, then?" Samantha demanded, glaring at him. "These day it takes a cheap carnival trick to make people recognize a real unicorn, but the Red Bull will know you when he sees you, so you are safer here." She smirked. "You should even thank me for protecting you, ungrateful beast."  
  
Just as soon as she was out of sight, Jared appeared from behind a tree."I'm here," he panted, trying to catch his breath."I'm sorry, but I couldn't get away any sooner. Had to ask Chad a riddle to keep him busy. It always takes that lout all night to solve them," he added, as the unicorn looked at his reflection in one of the iron bars caging him.  
  
"There has never been a spell on me before, and there has never been a world in which I was not known" he murmured, more to himself than to the magician.  
  
"I know exactly how you feel" Jared answered, anyway, with a sad smile.  
  
"I knew you for a unicorn as soon as I saw you, and I know that I'm your friend. But you?   
You can take me for a clown, a clod or even a betrayer; the magic on you will vanish as soon as you're free, but I will wear forever the enchantment of error that was put on me, at least in your eyes. We are not always what we seem, and hardly ever what we dream."  
  
The unicorn looked at him for a moment. "I think you are my friend" he stated, in the end. "Will you help me?"  
"If not you, no one" Jared answered. "You're my last chance."  
  
"Can you really set me free?" the unicorn questioned urgently.  
  
"I am the last of the Padaleckis clan, and I too am real. Like you and the harpy. And I'm older than I look" he added, bitterly. Before the unicorn could ask about the meaning of those words, Jared took a key ring out of his cape. "You deserve the services of a great magician, but I'm afraid you'll have to be glad of the aid of a second-rate pickpocket instead. Step out," he instructed softly, swinging the cage door wide."You're free."  
  
The unicorn moved a few steps on the grass, enjoying the feeling of being free again, when the moon came out of a cloud and shone on him. Jared's sharp intake of breath m made him turn, and he saw the magician take a couple of steps back, an expression of sudden wonder on his face. "Oh" he murmured "it was different when there were bars between us. You looked smaller, and not as-"He swallowed. "Oh, my."  
  
The unicorn chuckled, softly. He was used to this sort of reaction from people, even if he had almost forgotten how being worshipped felt like. It had been so long since he had last seen or talked to another being. "Okay, Jared, I give up. Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Chad’s gruff voice broke the moment, and Jared's eyes went wide with fear. As soon as Chad reached the clearing, he saw Jared standing next to the open door, and narrowed his eyes.  
  
"The cage. You’ve taken my keys, you spineless bastard...she'll string you on barbed wire to make a necklace for the harpy." He turned away, probably to go warn Samantha about the unicorn's escape, but Jared couldn't let him.  
  
"Run!" he shouted at the unicorn, as he jumped on Chad and ended up on the floor, tangled up with him. They started fighting, and even though Jared was so much taller than Chad, the other man was bulkier and he fought dirty. Instead of running away, though, the unicorn trotted around the clearing, touching the locks on the other cages with his horn and freed all the animals the witch had forced to play the role of mystical creatures.

 

  
In the end, only the harpy remained. The unicorn swallowed and walked up to her cage, ignoring Jared's worried voice screaming at him to stand back, to not free her or she'd kill him; he had managed to free himself from Chad, hitting him in the head with the key ring and was now running towards him.  
  
"Set me free" Celaeno hissed. "We are the same, you and I."  
  
The unicorn nodded, and touched the lock with his horn.In an instant, the wagon's walls crumbled down, as the harpy, with a shriek of triumph, took wind.  
  
"Not alone!" Samantha screamed, approaching the clearing. "You never could have freed yourselves alone! I held you!"  
  
Celaeno narrowed her eyes and folded her wings, falling like a star, her bright claws searching out for the heart of the witch, who welcomed the harpy with open arms. The unicorn looked away and so did Jared, before he approached her, trembling from head to toe.  
  
"Run! Run, dammit, we must run from here! Now!" he shouted.  
  
The unicorn shook his head. "No. Just come with me" he demanded, and started walking away as slowly as he could. Chad's painful scream froze the blood in Jared's veins, but before he could stop the unicorn nudged his muzzle against his side. "Don't look back, and don't run" he said, as they kept walking.   
  
"You must never run from anything immortal. It attracts their attention," he explained, and Jared, despite his terror, trusted him. And so they left, slowly, not really sure of which way they were going but knowing that death and pain were all that was left behind them.

 

  
"That poor old woman" Jared murmured, his long arms wrapped around his knees. "I didn't want for her to...I didn't know."  
  
The unicorn blinked, confused by the statement, before he realized that the magician probably felt somehow guilty for what had happened to Samantha.  
  
He never really had feelings for anyone or anything, so he didn't really understand what it was all about, but Jared had saved his life and it seemed right to comfort him somehow. "She chose her death long ago," he tried. "It was the fate she wanted."  
  
Jared lifted his eyes on the unicorn's unearthly beautiful, albeit cold, expression. "You have no regrets, as I do?" he asked, frowning, and the unicorn sighed.  
  
"I could never regret" he replied. "I can feel sorrow, but it's not the same thing. Is it?"  
  
Jared shook his head and stood up."Where will you go now?" he couldn’t help but ask.  
  
The unicorn's gaze shifted. "I'm looking for others like me; have you seen them, magician?"  
  
Jared let out a bitter chuckle. "Oh, no, I've never seen anyone like you. Not while I was awake, anyway. When you walk, you make an echo where they used to be."  
  
"A butterfly told me about a Red Bull, who pushed all the other unicorns to the ends of the earth" the unicorn added, "and Samantha spoke of a King Beaver. The two things are connected, so I'm going to where they are, to learn whatever they know." He pondered for a moment. "You saved my life. I owe you. What is it that you-"  
  
"Take me with you" Jared blurted out before his brain could process it "for luck, for laughs, for the unknown. Please," he begged. He wasn't sure why, but he needed to go with the unicorn, he needed to. He wanted to take care of him, to bathe in the light of his passing, even if he knew he was never going to be more than a fleeting presence in the immortal eternity of the unicorn's life.  
  
The unicorn stopped, then turned to look at him. "You may come with me, if you like," he said softly, before he resumed trotting. "Though I wish you'd asked for some other reward."  
  
"Well, I-I thought about it" Jared admitted, scrambling on his feet to catch up with him "but you could never have granted my true wish."  
  
The unicorn offered him a rueful smile. "I cannot turn you into something you are not. I cannot turn you into a true magician."  
  
Jared sighed."That's alright. Don't worry about it."  
  
"I'm not" the unicorn replied, and they both laughed quietly.  
  
"What do you know of King Beaver?" the unicorn asked after a while.  
  
Jared bit his lip. "I've heard that he's an old man who rules over a barren country by the sea" he said. "His land was green and soft once, before he came, but the minute he touched it, it became horrid and gray."  
  
The unicorn nodded. "Tell me about the Red Bull, then."  
  
Jared made a face. "I've heard too many tales, to tell you the truth. The bull is real, the bull is a ghost...it protects Beaver, keeps him a prisoner in his own castle. There are so many stories...Rumor has it that he sold his soul to the devil, and obtained the Red Bull in exchange." The unicorn felt a shiver of sureness run through him, like a ripple. They were most definitely on the right track.

 


	3. ~ 03 ~

  
"How much further is it?" the unicorn asked as they were walking in a dark, cold forest.  
  
"This is the edge of Beaver's kingdom" Jared answered "and it's a very, very dangerous country." His eyes shifted from left to right, scoping the woods for possible danger. "Not even Samantha dared to come within miles of here." Just as the unicorn was about to ask him why was he so jumpy all of a sudden, a mocking voice resounded from behind them.  
  
"Leaving us so early, magician?""I was afraid of that" Jared growled, stepping in front of the unicorn to hide him from sight. "Run swiftly, hide yourself, and we'll find each other later."  
  
"Who is that?" the unicorn asked, frowning.  
  
"An outlaw" Jared muttered desperately.   
  
It was a thin thorn of a woman, with a pale, bony face and fierce, and tawny eyes. Her long, dark hair flopped around a dress that had surely seen better days. "This is our forest, and if you think you can be so arrogant to-" She never managed to finish the sentence.  
  
The unicorn had stepped away, to hide behind a tree, and in the twilight his mane seemed to sparkle. The woman pressed her trembling hands on her mouth. "Can it truly be...?" she murmured, eyes wide and voice shaky. The unicorn slowly stepped out of the bushes and the woman took a couple of uncertain steps towards him. "Where have you been?" she demanded. "Where have you been?" Her voice went progressively louder, and when she clenched her fists Jared stepped between them.  
  
"Don't talk to him that way." he warned her, but the woman just circled him and stood right in front of the unicorn.  
  
"I'm here now" the unicorn said, softly, and the woman let out a bitter snort. "I can see that. And where were you 20 years ago? Hell, 10 years ago?! Where were you when I was one of those innocent young maidens you always come to?" Her eyes filled with tears as she fell down on her knees."How dare you come to me now...when I am this?" The unicorn stared at the woman's wet cheeks, the nuzzled her neck, making soothing sounds.  
  
Jared felt a pang of jealousy in his chest. How could she get so close to him, why was he touching her like that? Jared had wanted to tangle his long fingers in the unicorn's mane since they met, but never dared to. No one can touch unicorns.  
And still, that woman was..."Can you really see him? Do you really know what he is?" he inquired.  
  
The woman sniffled, as her sobs slowed down."If you had been waiting to see a unicorn as long as I have, you wouldn't have to ask me that question" she answered, her voice broken and weak.  
  
"He's the last unicorn in the world," Jared explained, and the woman nodded solemnly.  
  
"Of course. Makes sense that it would be the last unicorn in the world the one who came to Sandy McCoy" she said, standing up and stepping closer once more.  
  
She cupped the unicorn's muzzle in her palms, and dried her tears in the honey-colored mane.  
"It's all right," she murmured. "I forgive you."  
  
Jared cleared his throat."It's time for us to go now" he stated.  
  
Sandy grabbed a dusty bag from the nearby ground. "I'm ready."  
  
"You can't come with us!" Jared protested. "We're on a quest!"  
  
Sandy narrowed her eyes. "Can't I? Ask him." The unicorn opened his mouth, but Jared stomped his foot. "Never! I, Jared the Magician, forbid it!" he retorted.  
Sandy rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, have some sense, man. What were you gonna do with the last unicorn in the world? Keep him into a cage?"  
  
Jared saw red."You don't even know where we're going, woman!" he shrieked, and she shrugged.  
  
"Do you think it matters to me?"  
  
"We are journeying to King Beaver's country to find the Red Bull!" Jared exclaimed, hoping to scare her, but she just snorted.  
  
"You're going the wrong way, then." And with that, it was settled.

 

  
Jared was still fuming, as they skirted along the mountains.  
  
"I'm sorry" Sandy tried, "but you _were_ going the wrong way, Magician."  
  
"It was a shortcut" he muttered to himself before he stopped dead in his tracks and pointed at a dark silhouette standing against the red sky. "That's Beaver's fortress" he said. We'll be there tomorrow if we walk all night." Then he caught sight of Sandy sitting on a rock to catch her breath, looking exhausted, and the unicorn staring at the ruins as his hooves stamped nervously the ground.   
  
"Or," he added, "we could camp out here for the night and resume walking as soon as the sun rises." He could see the relief flooding the unicorn's expression, and found himself smiling.

 

  
"So," Jared asked as he collected firewood and the unicorn trotted beside him, "what's your name? I mean, I know you're a unicorn and all, but don't you have a name that's only yours, a name I can call you by?"  
  
The unicorn frowned. "I'm not sure of what you mean" he replied "but for as long as I can remember, I've been called _son of Ioanne_. I don't know if that would fit your needs though."  
  
Jared just shrugged. "Never mind, was not important anyway." The unicorn stared at him for a long moment. "The night you set me free...you said something about being older than you look" he started, and Jared cringed. He had really hoped the unicorn had forgotten about that.  
  
The unicorn stepped closer. "What did you mean by that?" he inquired, softly.  
  
Jared sighed and kicked a pebble. "As I child, I was the apprentice of a great wizard; but not even him, with his never ending powers, was ever able to turn me into anything but a carnival cardsharp. Then one day, he sat me down and told me that the only reason why I was such an inept incompetent was that I was inhabited by a power greater than anything he had ever known. However..." Jared clenched his jaw. "However, since apparently it was working backwards, it would have probably taken all my life to find a way to reach my real power, so he just-"  
  
The unicorn nudged his side, encouragingly.   
  
"He cursed me" Jared concluded. "I have not aged since that day forth, but I've traveled the world instead, eternally inefficient, in the vain hope that somewhere, at some point, I was going to discover how to unleash my potential."  
  
"And if you find it? If you find your magic, what then?" the unicorn asked.  
  
Jared smiled bitterly. "The spell will be broken and I will begin to die, as I was supposed to since the day of my birth" he replied. "I was born mortal, but then I've been immortal for a long, foolish time, and therefore I know things unicorns cannot know."  
  
The unicorn nodded, distractedly, his gaze shifting until it stopped on the castle once more.  
"Where do you thing King Beaver keeps the Red Bull?"  
  
Jared opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, torn into keep talking and drop it, and in the end he simply shrugged. He was not surprised by the unicorn's lack of caring or understanding. Maybe a little hurt, but that's not the same thing. "I've heard that he roams at night, and lies up by day in a great cavern beneath the castle" he answered, bending to grab a few branches. "But, I'm guessing we'll know soon enough."

 

  
Big, grey clouds had covered the moon, and by the dying embers of the campfire Jared had put together, the scrawny woods surrounding Beaver's kingdom looked even creepier than ever. The unicorn was curled up next to fire, while Jared and Sandy were leaning against a tree trunk nearby.   
  
Sandy was wrapped in Jared's cape, and Jared was shivering in his thin undershirt, leaning as close as he could to steal some warmth. Despite being bone tired, it had taken a while for them to fall asleep, especially for Jared; he had thought about sleeping with the unicorn. Animals are always like furnaces when they sleep, after all, but he couldn't muster the courage to get that close to him.   
  
Despite how much time they had spent together, he still felt too much admiration, respect and awe in the presence of the creature to be able to act normal. He just hoped he wasn't coming across as dumber and weirder than he actually was.

 

  
None of them were awake to see a red mist taking shape above the castle, none of them heard the inhuman growl amongst the thunder and none of them noticed they were doomed until the ground under them started shaking. Sandy's eyelids fluttered, right before her eyes snapped open and she recoiled against the trunk.   
  
"Jared, the light," she yelled, pointing at the sky with a trembling finger, where a red cloud of smoke was rapidly descending towards them. The unicorn neighed, rearing, as his horn lit up, recognizing the danger. The cloud exploded with a deafening sound, and there it was. The Red Bull, a giant, terrifying ball of fire, smoke and fear. It growled at the unicorn, who turned and galloped away, as fast as he could manage, and the bull covered his footprints as he had done with the other unicorns before him.  
  
The creature was so close that the unicorn could smell its rotten breath, and his long, muscular legs faltered when the bull's wet nose brushed his back. "Do something," Sandy screamed, pulling at Jared's sleeve, and Jared just shook his head.  
  
"The bull's just driving him!" he screamed back. "It can't want to kill him or he'd be dead by now." The bull backed the unicorn against a rock face, and finally Jared got it. "It's driving him the way it drove the others: to the castle, to King Beaver!"  
  
Sandy fisted her hands in his shirt with all her strength, shaking him violently. "Please. Please do something!" she begged him, but Jared pulled away.  
  
"What can I do, Sandy?" he exclaimed, pain and guilt lacing his words. "What can _I_ do, huh? " he demanded. "Do you think the Red Bull likes card tricks? I'm a useless magician, I have nothing and I can't save him." He punched the tree trunk, his jaw clenched so tight his teeth hurt and his body shaking in rage and impotence.   
  
"If only I could, I'd change him into some other creature, maybe some beast too humble for the bull to be concerned with," he murmured, more to himself than to Sandy, but despite the roaring sounds and the storm approaching she heard him perfectly.  
  
"Then do it, damn you!" she retorted, punching his chest.  
  
"That would take a real magician, with real magic, and I can't pretend that's me."  
  
Sandy narrowed her eyes. "You have all the power you need if you'd dare to look for it, Jared! I heard you, before. Maybe you can't find it, but it's there, somewhere inside you, you just need to let it out."  
  
Jared gasped. He didn't expect anyone else to know about that.  
  
"Please," she begged him again, as the unicorn lowered his head and started to slowly go the way the bull was nudging him towards."It's not fair."  
  
They were walking towards them, and Jared pushed Sandy aside, stepping in front of the bull.  
"Run, now!" he yelled at the unicorn "I'll keep it busy, just-run!"  
  
The unicorn lifted his green eyes on him, then sighed and shook his head, looking away.  
He had been beaten.  
  
"Jared," Sandy called out, desperate, and Jared just opened his arms, closing his eyes and trying to recall all he had learned during his centuries of wandering.  
  
In the end all he could do was bowing his head and beg the magic inside of him to do as it wanted. "Do as you will" he muttered, clenching his fists. "Do as you will, only save him."  
  
A green light enveloped him, and Jared could feel it: his magic, running through him, then out of his fingertips, towards the unicorn. He held it as much as he could, before falling down on his knees and passing out, thoroughly spent.   
  
Sandy was by his side in an instant, shaking him back to awareness, and they both stared in shock as the Red Bull suddenly growled in confusion and stepped away, disappearing into thin air. As soon as it was gone, they could finally see what it was hiding from them, and Sandy went even paler than usual.  
  
"What have you done?!" she snapped, eyes wide, as she ran over there, heedless of any danger.

 

  
Where the unicorn had been, a few meters from them, spilled into a very small heap of light and shadow, was a male body curled in a fetal position, deadly still. He was naked, and his skin was the color of snow by moonlight and fine, tangled honey-colored hair fell down on his wide shoulders. They couldn't see his face, for it was hidden in his arms.   
  
Sandy knelt beside the motionless body, and pulled it closer until his head was in her lap. "What have you done?" she murmured again, shaking her head, but Jared couldn't hear her. All of his senses were focused on the man's face, which was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  
  
The high cheekbones, the strong jaw, the dark eyelashes, longer than common and somewhat deeper set, everything in that face was perfect, even the freckles sprinkled all over his nose.  
His expression was quiet in his sleep; his pouty lips, red as the most ripe of berries, were curled slightly, as if the man was almost smiling.   
  
It hurt and warmed Jared's heart at the same time. Sandy wrapped Jared's cape around him, and the man shone through it like the sun through leaves. Then, she smoothed his blond hair, and both her and Jared were able to notice on the forehead, above and between the closed eyes, a small, raised mark, darker than the rest of the man's skin. It didn't look like a scar or a bruise, it was too delicate and perfect to be either. It looked like a flower, and Jared instantly knew it was all that was left of the unicorn's original shape.   
  
Sandy narrowed her eyes, and finally Jared snapped out of his reverie. "What do you mean, what have I done?" he exclaimed, intoxicated with the rush of being able to perform a spell like this.  
  
"I saved him from the Red Bull by magic, by my own true magic. That's what I've done."  
He twirled on himself. "Doubtless you're wondering how do I plan to return him to his proper shape. Wonder not, for I am sure the power will come to me whenever I need it, just as it did today." _And one day...one day it will come to me when I call it_ , he thought.  
  
"Damn you, Jared!" Sandy snapped again, her jaw clenched.  
  
"I didn't know you meant to turn him into a man, or I would have never let you do it!"  
  
Jared frowned. "The Red Bull came for a unicorn, so he had obviously to become something else" he objected. "Besides, the magic chose the shape, not I. I'm just a bearer, a dwelling, a messenger, a-"  
  
"You're an _idiot_!" she interrupted him. "You lost him. How can you not understand? You've trapped him in a human body. He'll go mad."  
  
Woken by Sandy's shrieking voice, the man's eyelashes fluttered, before slowly lifting, revealing green eyes, dark as the deepest of forests, and still illuminated from within, like a million fireflies were shining through them. The unicorn could have been turned into any shape and still his eyes would have given the change away, to those who cared, anyway. The man lay without moving, until he could see his own reflection in Sandy's eyes.   
  
As soon as he did, he gasped, scrambling up on his feet and wrapping his arms around his torso, shameful of his nudity. Jared wanted to tell him he had no reason to be ashamed, that nothing else as beautiful and perfect existed, but he ended up just muttering "I can change him back, don't worry about it." He hated how shaky his voice sounded.  
  
The man tried to take a couple of uncertain steps, but tripped on his own new feet and fell down. Sandy walked up to him, but he lifted a hand to keep her at bay. "What have you done to me?" he asked in a murmur, his voice broken and still so beautiful that Jared felt his knees go weak at the sound.  
  
"Oh, no," Sandy sobbed, as tears ran down her dirty cheeks. "Oh, please, no."  
  
Jared stepped closer. "You see, I-I couldn't think of anything else to do to save you," he tried to explain, as the man stared in shock at his own hand.   
  
Then he lifted to his forehead, and panicked when he couldn't find his horn. "What have you done to me?" he asked again, his voice louder "I'm a unicorn. I'm a unicorn!" He was yelling by then, and he had started scratching his arms as if his skin was too tight for him.   
  
Before he could think about it, and seeing that Sandy was probably more shocked than the unicorn himself, Jared knelt in front of him and grabbed the man's wrists, effectively stopping him.  
  
"Don't" he said, as soothingly as he could manage. "You'll hurt yourself." The man was shaking, and it took all of Jared's willpower not to wrap his arms around him and hold him tight against his chest until he had calmed down. "The magic knew what it was doing," he added, softly. "In this shape alone, you have some hope of reaching King Beaver and finding out what has become of the other unicorns."  
  
The man shook his head violently. "I wish you had let the Red Bull take me" he sobbed, as his voice wavered "I wish you had left me to the harpy!" Jared frowned, taken aback, but the man just pushed him away.  
  
"Don't you get it? I can feel this body _dying_ all around me!"  
  
Jared felt his heart clench."It's only for a little while, I-I promise you. Soon you'll have your true shape again forever," he tried again, desperate to give some relief to the poor creature.  
  
"Why not now, then?" Sandy retaliated, apparently back in control of herself. "You can't let him stay like this, Jared, and you know it," she told him.  
  
"Why not?" Jared retorted. "Unless you think he could defeat the bull if he met it again, if I turn him back he's doomed."   
  
The man bit his lower lip. "No," he murmured "but I'm afraid of this human body, more than I was of the Red Bull." Jared didn't have the courage to tell him that he was afraid of it too, because if it had been relatively easy for him to deal with the admiration and love for the unicorn when it had been a mystical creature, he was definitely not so sure about what he felt for him now.

 


	4. ~ 04 ~

"What?! Two men and a woman coming _here_?!"  
  
The prince cringed and took a step back, glancing at his father's clenched fists. He nodded, slowly. "One of the men, though...he looks strange." He frowned. "It's like he has a- _newness_ to him, I can't really explain it."  
  
The king didn't say anything for a while, as if pondering about something, then he narrowed his eyes and stood up, grabbing his sword and helmet before motioning for the prince to follow him.  
  
"We can't let them show themselves in, now, can we?" he muttered. "That would be just rude." The prince didn't even bother answering as he walked after him; he knew his father wouldn't be listening anyway.

 

  
The castle looked even more terrifying up close than it had from a distance. Jared swallowed, hard, stepping in front of Sandy and the unicorn who were following at a slower pace. The unicorn couldn't really walk on his own yet, and Sandy had a worried hand on his lower back to keep him steady. By the way his jaw trembled slightly, Jared could see how much he was hating every second of it, and guilt gnawed at him even more.   
  
Right in front of the gate, two men in armor were apparently waiting for them, so Jared nodded at Sandy and walked towards them. "Give your names" the older one growled, unsheathing his sword, and Jared lifted his hands in an unthreatening gesture.  
  
"I am Jared, the Magician. This is Sandy, my helper, and this is...well, this is..." He paused, unsure, and Sandy arched an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Well?" the soldier growls again stepping forward.  
  
 _"Don't you have a name that's only yours, a name I can call you by?"_  
"I'm not sure of what you mean, but for as long as I can remember, I've been called **son of Ioanne**."  
  
"Jensen. This is Lord Jensen" he blurted out, suddenly remembering their conversation, and the unicorn's gaze snapped up, surprised. No other human had ever pronounced his real name before, probably. "We seek audience with King Beaver" he added, rushingly, doing a half bow.  
  
One of the soldiers glared at him. "State your business with the king, now," he ordered, and really, Jared had enough.  
  
"I will, but only to King Beaver himself," he replied, crossing his arms on his chest. The soldier looked taken aback by his bravery, but shrugged and guided them in and the other soldier trailed behind.   
  
They were all making their way up the narrow, cracked stairs of the ruined building, when suddenly the clock struck seven and the castle trembled; the unicorn had to cling to the wall for dear life, now that he had no one to help him up.  
  
"It's all right" the second soldier said, stepping closer. "Don't be afraid. It's just the bull."  
The unicorn narrowed his eyes and kept walking, ignoring him.

 

  
"This is King Beaver's throne room" the soldier announced once they had reached the top of the tower.  
  
Jared blinked. "Throne room? This is a _cell_ , or maybe a tomb," he muttered to himself before raising his voice and demanding to see the King.  
The soldier smirked. "I am King Beaver" he said, taking off his helmet and revealing a gray beard and short grey hair. "This is Prince Misha, my son," he added, nodding towards the other soldier who also took off the helmet and turned his pale blue, earnest eyes on them.  
  
"Glad to meet you," he said, sounding almost shy, as he pulled a few black bangs back from his forehead.  
  
"What is your concern with me?" the king asked again, insistently.  
  
Jared glanced at the unicorn, whose expression was blank and unreadable, and stepped forward. "We seek, sire, to enter your service" he said.  
  
"I need no servants" the king retorted, drily, turning his back on them.  
  
"Sire, I'm sure a magician...a fine cook..."  
  
"You are losing my interest and that is very dangerous" the King hissed, glaring at them, and Jared felt a cold shiver running down his spine. The man had slaughtered and killed, and had a demonic bull at his service, but the unicorn (Jensen?) needed for Jared to be strong and brave, and he couldn't let him down. Hell, he couldn't let _all_ the unicorns in the world down.   
  
"What about feasts, balls, hunts?" he tried again.  
  
King Beaver sat back on his throne. "They are nothing to me," he answered, tiredly. "I've known them all, and they have not made me happy. I will do nothing and keep nothing near me that does not make me happy."  
  
Jared opened his mouth again, but before he could talk the king added "I already have a magician at my service. He's called Azazel."   
  
Jared's eyes went wide. Of course he knew him.   
  
Azazel, the yellow eyed wonder, who was also known in the trade as the magician's magician. There had been rumors going around about him for ages. Some said he made a deal with the devil, others said he was the devil himself. Of course, the whole _Red Bull_ thing now made more sense.  
  
"I can see no reason at all to replace him with some vagrant, nameless, clownish-" the king began.  
  
"I can" Sandy interrupted him, speaking up. "He doesn't, this marvelous Azazel, doesn't make you happy, does he?"  
  
Jared grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Sandy, be still" he muttered, but the king waved his hand at him, turning to Sandy.  
  
"How would you know?" he asked.  
  
Sandy put her hands on her hips. "Well, just by looking at you," was her reply, and before Jared could apologize for her behavior the king had turned to the empty side of the room.  
  
"Did you hear that, Azazel?"  
In a yellow cloud of smoke, the magician appeared, bowing at the king. "What does Your Majesty wish of me?" he inquired, then he saw Jared and his face lightened up.  
  
"Jared, my dear boy!" he exclaimed. "How nice to see you!"  
  
The king snorted. "He has come to take your place," he announced. "Jared is my new royal magician."  
  
Azazel's cordiality disappeared in an instant as he turned his furious glare on Jared. "The _legendary_ Jared? The runeless, immortal wonder?" he mocked. "I realize Your Majesty is a great collector of oddities, but-this one is definitely too much." Jared lowered his head. It wasn't something he had never heard before, after all.  
  
The King's words, however, did surprise him. "The woman is right" he said. "A master magician has not made me happy, I want to see what an incompetent one can do."  
  
Azazel was livid. "I am not packed off as easily as that!" he roared, lifting his stick as a strong wind started whistling from nowhere creating a small tornado in the center of the room. Misha, who's gaze had been focused on the unicorn since the first second he had seen him, stepped in front of him to protect him. The unicorn, who was standing next to the window, looking at the restless waves, moved him away and stepped resolutely in front of the magician.   
  
The shape on his forehead sparkled and, in an instant, the tornado was vanquished and Azazel was on his knees, coughing, completely defeated. As soon as the danger was over, he turned back towards the window.  
  
Jared felt like kneeling down, but luckily Sandy's hand stopped him right before he did; the last thing they needed was for King Beaver to suspect something was up. The magician stood up, on wobbly legs, then broke into laugh.   
  
"Oh, Jim, I would not be you for all the world" he said, pointing straight at the King "you have let your doom in by the front door, but it will not depart that way!" He chuckled some more, looking at the unicorn's back, bid his farewell and vanished.  
  
The king stood up and walked to the window, to see what had captured the lord's attention.  
  
"Don't!" the unicorn exclaimed, stepping back, but the King lifted both his hands.  
  
"I will not touch you, I promise" he said slowly. "What are you looking at?"  
  
The unicorn frowned. "The sea" he replied, his voice wavering not with fear, but with life, like a new butterfly would shiver in the sun.  
  
King Beaver nodded. "The sea is always good," he agreed, "but even if it's the only thing that keeps me sane I can't look at it as long as you do." He stepped closer and stared straight in the unicorn's eyes.   
  
Where there should have been his reflection, all he could see was dark green, leaves, trees and streams.   
  
There was a world in that intense gaze, and it was like he could see through the depths of the King's soul. "What is the matter with your eyes?!" King Beaver shouted. "Why can I not see myself in your eyes?" The unicorn simply shrugged, and turned his gaze back on the ocean. "Who is he!" the King shouted again "I demand to know."  
  
Sandy looked at Jared, fearfully, and Jared muttered something about him being his brother, but the king wouldn't have any of it."Stop lying to me. What he wears, what may have befallen you, what you all are to one another-in such matters you may lie to me as much as you want," he hissed, clenching his fists, before baring his sword and pointing it at Jared.  
  
"But I want to know, I _have_ to know who he is. How did he break Azazel's magic without a word? Why there are green leaves and rivers in his eyes? What's that sparkle surrounding him? Speak now, quickly, and avoid the temptation to lie if you want to keep both your tongue and your head, especially about the green leaves."   
  
Jared swallowed, completely at a loss, and firmly decided to let the King kill him if that meant protecting the unicorn, but right then the shy but voice of Prince Misha was heard.  
  
"Father, what difference does it make?" he asked, softly."He's here now." The king looked like he wanted to keep pushing, but one single glance at his son's face was all it took for the fight to leave him.  
  
"For once you are right," he muttered. "He's here. They are _all_ here, and whether they mean my doom or not I want to look at them for a while." He turned towards the unicorn.  
"You may come and go as you please, _Jensen_ " he added "my secrets guard themselves." Jared could hear the second part of the sentence as clearly as if the king had said it aloud. _Will yours do the same?_

 

  
Days passed by, and they somehow fell all in some sort of routine. On the never ending moonlit nights, Jensen would stare at fish jumping out of the water, like they had learned to fly, wriggling their long silver fins as if they were wings.   
  
The stars kept shining in the sky just like they did when he was still in his forest, but everything looked and felt so different, that Jensen had a very hard time adjusting to it. Sandy spent almost all of her time cleaning, cooking and otherwise making the ruined castle a livable place. It looked like no one had taken care of it for ages, and it was too big for her alone, so though ended up exhausted she still felt as though she accomplished little.   
  
They had still no clue about the other unicorns, and since they didn't know if there was a deadline to all of this, the whole situation was even more stressful.  
  
Jared tried every trick in his book to amuse the King, make him laugh, distract him from Jensen and his mysteries, and some days it worked better than others. Misha, for his part, kept doing all he could think of to get Jensen's attention, but no matter how hard he tried or how many heroic gestures he made, nothing seemed to made the least impression on him.  
  
Jensen would simply go back to looking at the horizon, as if searching for something, while the waves rolled back and forth against the rocks, ignoring Misha's words, his gifts or thoughts.   
  
"Let me help you," Misha would entreat. "What can I do for you? Trust me, please," he would beg. But Jensen would only spare him a glance and then walk away, leaving him sad and alone.

 

  


  
"And then he looked at me, and I was actually sorry I had killed the thing. Sorry for killing a dragon, can you imagine it?" Sandy was cooking dinner, and Misha, with the excuse of helping, was unloading his own bottomless sack of frustration. And repeatedly cutting his finger as he tried to peel potatoes. Sandy snickered, as she put another log in the fire.  
  
"Cut away from yourself, not toward" she suggested, before drying her forehead and sitting next to him on the bench.  
  
"You know, Your Highness, maybe you should try something else" she added, and Misha huffed.  
  
"What's left on earth that I haven't tried?" he exclaimed.  
  
"Giants, ogres, black knights, terrible tasks, fatal riddles…for his sake I've become a hero, and gone against common sense and traditions; no matter what I do, my great deeds mean nothing to him."   
  
Sandy sighed, as she started peeling. "Have you ever thought that maybe Jensen is not to be won by great deeds?"  
  
Misha groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Who is he, Sandy? Where does he come from? I don't know any more about him than I did the first day he came here, except that I wish to serve him as you do. As Jared does."  
  
"You will never be able to serve him as we do" Sandy snapped, despite herself, and Misha gasped.  
  
"No, I...of course, I didn't mean it like that. I only want to help him find whatever he has come to find."  
  
"You wish to be whatever he has most need of" Sandy said "and you can't be."  
  
Misha lowered his head. "That much I know," he replied. "But he doesn't speak to me, not a word in all this time! Maybe if you told him..."  
  
"You should tell him yourself, if you want him to know," Sandy interrupted him, "because I'm not about to be convincing him for your sake." With that, she stood up and left, looking for Jensen. Things were starting to get out of hand and she didn't know how to deal with it.

 

  
She found him on the balcony, his eyes closed as he inhaled the sea breeze deeply. "You are cruel to him," she started. "You might give him a gentle word at the very least. He only wishes you to think of him, you know."  
  
Jensen shrugged."He wants me to love him, and for some reason I can't do that" he replied, before slowly turning towards her.  
  
"Who am I, Sandy? Why am I here? What is it that I am seeking in this strange place, day after day? I knew a moment ago, but...I have forgotten."  
  
Sandy would have thought he was joking, if she didn't see the pure, unadulterated confusion in Jensen's expression. What she had feared was actually happening: the unicorn was losing himself.  
  
"The unicorns" she answered, urgently. "We need to know if you are the last, or if we can save them." She was about to grab Jensen's arm and shake him, but even at a time as desperate as this she couldn't stop the feelings of reverie and devotion.   
  
Jensen nodded and stepped back inside, in the ballroom, where there was a giant tapestry of mythological creatures. A unicorn. Once, so long ago that he couldn't remember it anymore, he was different: innocent, wise and full of pain.   
  
Now, suddenly everything felt far and strange and he wasn't sure how much of his original self was left within his human form. "I must go to him," he murmured, brushing his fingertips against the painted creature. "I must face the bull again and discover what he has done with them, before I forget myself forever."   
  
He wrapped his arms around his torso, feeling lonely and lost as he thought about searching for something out of reach he couldn't find, and for a moment his heart seemed to fail him, filling him with sensations he wasn't aware he could feel.  
  
"Jared will find a way down to the Red Bull" Sandy said, moving closer. "He has been searching every day."   
  
Jensen laughed bitterly. "I hope for no help from him" he stated coldly. "He is no magician now, but the king's poor clown. Then again, maybe this is what he was all along and I simply thought I saw something else in him."  
  
This time no respect or awe stopped Sandy from shaking his arm. "Don't you dare talk about him like that," she snapped. "Can't you see he's doing it for you? He plays the fool for King Beaver trying to divert him from wondering what you are."   
  
Her eyes were blazing and her jaw was clenched, and Jensen could see it all in a second.  
  
What Misha wanted from him, Sandy wanted from Jared. And Jared..."How can you be so ungrateful after everything that man has done for you," she growled, still shaking in rage. "He put it all on the line, he risked his life over and over, and all you can do is-"  
  
"Forgive me, Sandy" he interrupted her, grabbing her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."  
Sandy felt her chest clench and shook her head, not following when Jensen retired in his room.   
  
Just then, like every other day at seven, the castle trembled; the Red Bull was going out again. He was probably hunting for the one unicorn that escaped him. They had very little time; either the bull was going to figure out that Jensen was the unicorn, or he was going to turn into a man completely and there would be nothing to save.   
  
Sandy couldn’t help but wonder if it would be that bad for the unicorn to live a mortal life; maybe he'd have fallen for Misha, with time, while her and Jared- "No" she said, out loud, hating herself for even thinking that. Jensen was the last unicorn, the world was going to end forever if he had lost himself.   
  
"He must do what he came to do," she murmured, nodding to herself, trying to remember something, anything that might help, while she took the stairs to go back down in the kitchen.  
  
That's when it hit her: the castle trembled always at the same time. Seven o'clock. _The clock and the Bull must be connected somehow_ she thought, just as Jared got in the kitchen, shivering and soaking wet.   
  
"I can't do this very much longer" he said, hoarsely. "He had me juggling teacups for him all night long. With tea in them!" All Sandy had to offer him was a little smile and a bowl of warm soup.  
  
"I think I have a plan" she explained, once Jared had finally dried up "I think that the way to the Bull's lair is through a clock. We just have to distract the king for a little while longer as we look for it."  
  
Jared sighed."Sandy, he knows. King Beaver knows what Jensen is, I'm sure of it."  
  
"Well, what do we do, then?" she asked, but before Jared could answer, Misha entered, with a few crinkled pages in his hand.  
  
"I've practically got the whole poem now, if you wanted to look at it," he said, shyly, and   
  
Jared narrowed his eyes. "Poem?"  
  
Misha cleared his throat. "Yeah, for-for Jensen."  
  
Sandy squeezed Jared's hand. "Maybe later, Your Highness" she answered, and Misha stepped back, blushing slightly.  
  
"Oh! Sure, of-of course" he babbled, and left in a hurry."So now you're helping him to conquer Jensen's heart?" Jared demanded, and there was so much bitterness in his voice that Sandy cringed.  
  
"No, Jared, not at all," she tried to soothe him as she rubbed his back.  
  
"I have to distract him too, right? We both know Jensen can't be conquered, not with a dragon's head nor with a poem. He doesn't have feelings, not really and he can't fall in love."  
  
Jared's back went stiff under Sandy's palms. "Yeah," he murmured. "We both know."

 


	5. ~ 05 ~

"What?! Two men and a woman coming _here_?!"  
  
The prince cringed and took a step back, glancing at his father's clenched fists. He nodded, slowly. "One of the men, though...he looks strange." He frowned. "It's like he has a- _newness_ to him, I can't really explain it."  
  
The king didn't say anything for a while, as if pondering about something, then he narrowed his eyes and stood up, grabbing his sword and helmet before motioning for the prince to follow him.  
  
"We can't let them show themselves in, now, can we?" he muttered. "That would be just rude." The prince didn't even bother answering as he walked after him; he knew his father wouldn't be listening anyway.  
  


  
  
The castle looked even more terrifying up close than it had from a distance. Jared swallowed, hard, stepping in front of Sandy and the unicorn who were following at a slower pace. The unicorn couldn't really walk on his own yet, and Sandy had a worried hand on his lower back to keep him steady. By the way his jaw trembled slightly, Jared could see how much he was hating every second of it, and guilt gnawed at him even more.   
  
Right in front of the gate, two men in armor were apparently waiting for them, so Jared nodded at Sandy and walked towards them. "Give your names" the older one growled, unsheathing his sword, and Jared lifted his hands in an unthreatening gesture.  
  
"I am Jared, the Magician. This is Sandy, my helper, and this is...well, this is..." He paused, unsure, and Sandy arched an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Well?" the soldier growls again stepping forward.  
  
 _"Don't you have a name that's only yours, a name I can call you by?"_  
"I'm not sure of what you mean, but for as long as I can remember, I've been called **son of Ioanne**."  
  
"Jensen. This is Lord Jensen" he blurted out, suddenly remembering their conversation, and the unicorn's gaze snapped up, surprised. No other human had ever pronounced his real name before, probably. "We seek audience with King Beaver" he added, rushingly, doing a half bow.  
  
One of the soldiers glared at him. "State your business with the king, now," he ordered, and really, Jared had enough.  
  
"I will, but only to King Beaver himself," he replied, crossing his arms on his chest. The soldier looked taken aback by his bravery, but shrugged and guided them in and the other soldier trailed behind.   
  
They were all making their way up the narrow, cracked stairs of the ruined building, when suddenly the clock struck seven and the castle trembled; the unicorn had to cling to the wall for dear life, now that he had no one to help him up.  
  
"It's all right" the second soldier said, stepping closer. "Don't be afraid. It's just the bull."  
The unicorn narrowed his eyes and kept walking, ignoring him.  
  


  
  
"This is King Beaver's throne room" the soldier announced once they had reached the top of the tower.  
  
Jared blinked. "Throne room? This is a _cell_ , or maybe a tomb," he muttered to himself before raising his voice and demanding to see the King.  
The soldier smirked. "I am King Beaver" he said, taking off his helmet and revealing a gray beard and short grey hair. "This is Prince Misha, my son," he added, nodding towards the other soldier who also took off the helmet and turned his pale blue, earnest eyes on them.  
  
"Glad to meet you," he said, sounding almost shy, as he pulled a few black bangs back from his forehead.  
  
"What is your concern with me?" the king asked again, insistently.  
  
Jared glanced at the unicorn, whose expression was blank and unreadable, and stepped forward. "We seek, sire, to enter your service" he said.  
  
"I need no servants" the king retorted, drily, turning his back on them.  
  
"Sire, I'm sure a magician...a fine cook..."  
  
"You are losing my interest and that is very dangerous" the King hissed, glaring at them, and Jared felt a cold shiver running down his spine. The man had slaughtered and killed, and had a demonic bull at his service, but the unicorn (Jensen?) needed for Jared to be strong and brave, and he couldn't let him down. Hell, he couldn't let _all_ the unicorns in the world down.   
  
"What about feasts, balls, hunts?" he tried again.  
  
King Beaver sat back on his throne. "They are nothing to me," he answered, tiredly. "I've known them all, and they have not made me happy. I will do nothing and keep nothing near me that does not make me happy."  
  
Jared opened his mouth again, but before he could talk the king added "I already have a magician at my service. He's called Azazel."   
  
Jared's eyes went wide. Of course he knew him.   
  
Azazel, the yellow eyed wonder, who was also known in the trade as the magician's magician. There had been rumors going around about him for ages. Some said he made a deal with the devil, others said he was the devil himself. Of course, the whole _Red Bull_ thing now made more sense.  
  
"I can see no reason at all to replace him with some vagrant, nameless, clownish-" the king began.  
  
"I can" Sandy interrupted him, speaking up. "He doesn't, this marvelous Azazel, doesn't make you happy, does he?"  
  
Jared grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Sandy, be still" he muttered, but the king waved his hand at him, turning to Sandy.  
  
"How would you know?" he asked.  
  
Sandy put her hands on her hips. "Well, just by looking at you," was her reply, and before Jared could apologize for her behavior the king had turned to the empty side of the room.  
  
"Did you hear that, Azazel?"  
In a yellow cloud of smoke, the magician appeared, bowing at the king. "What does Your Majesty wish of me?" he inquired, then he saw Jared and his face lightened up.  
  
"Jared, my dear boy!" he exclaimed. "How nice to see you!"  
  
The king snorted. "He has come to take your place," he announced. "Jared is my new royal magician."  
  
Azazel's cordiality disappeared in an instant as he turned his furious glare on Jared. "The _legendary_ Jared? The runeless, immortal wonder?" he mocked. "I realize Your Majesty is a great collector of oddities, but-this one is definitely too much." Jared lowered his head. It wasn't something he had never heard before, after all.  
  
The King's words, however, did surprise him. "The woman is right" he said. "A master magician has not made me happy, I want to see what an incompetent one can do."  
  
Azazel was livid. "I am not packed off as easily as that!" he roared, lifting his stick as a strong wind started whistling from nowhere creating a small tornado in the center of the room. Misha, who's gaze had been focused on the unicorn since the first second he had seen him, stepped in front of him to protect him. The unicorn, who was standing next to the window, looking at the restless waves, moved him away and stepped resolutely in front of the magician.   
  
The shape on his forehead sparkled and, in an instant, the tornado was vanquished and Azazel was on his knees, coughing, completely defeated. As soon as the danger was over, he turned back towards the window.  
  
Jared felt like kneeling down, but luckily Sandy's hand stopped him right before he did; the last thing they needed was for King Beaver to suspect something was up. The magician stood up, on wobbly legs, then broke into laugh.   
  
"Oh, Jim, I would not be you for all the world" he said, pointing straight at the King "you have let your doom in by the front door, but it will not depart that way!" He chuckled some more, looking at the unicorn's back, bid his farewell and vanished.  
  
The king stood up and walked to the window, to see what had captured the lord's attention.  
  
"Don't!" the unicorn exclaimed, stepping back, but the King lifted both his hands.  
  
"I will not touch you, I promise" he said slowly. "What are you looking at?"  
  
The unicorn frowned. "The sea" he replied, his voice wavering not with fear, but with life, like a new butterfly would shiver in the sun.  
  
King Beaver nodded. "The sea is always good," he agreed, "but even if it's the only thing that keeps me sane I can't look at it as long as you do." He stepped closer and stared straight in the unicorn's eyes.   
  
Where there should have been his reflection, all he could see was dark green, leaves, trees and streams.   
  
There was a world in that intense gaze, and it was like he could see through the depths of the King's soul. "What is the matter with your eyes?!" King Beaver shouted. "Why can I not see myself in your eyes?" The unicorn simply shrugged, and turned his gaze back on the ocean. "Who is he!" the King shouted again "I demand to know."  
  
Sandy looked at Jared, fearfully, and Jared muttered something about him being his brother, but the king wouldn't have any of it."Stop lying to me. What he wears, what may have befallen you, what you all are to one another-in such matters you may lie to me as much as you want," he hissed, clenching his fists, before baring his sword and pointing it at Jared.  
  
"But I want to know, I _have_ to know who he is. How did he break Azazel's magic without a word? Why there are green leaves and rivers in his eyes? What's that sparkle surrounding him? Speak now, quickly, and avoid the temptation to lie if you want to keep both your tongue and your head, especially about the green leaves."   
  
Jared swallowed, completely at a loss, and firmly decided to let the King kill him if that meant protecting the unicorn, but right then the shy but voice of Prince Misha was heard.  
  
"Father, what difference does it make?" he asked, softly."He's here now." The king looked like he wanted to keep pushing, but one single glance at his son's face was all it took for the fight to leave him.  
  
"For once you are right," he muttered. "He's here. They are _all_ here, and whether they mean my doom or not I want to look at them for a while." He turned towards the unicorn.  
"You may come and go as you please, _Jensen_ " he added "my secrets guard themselves." Jared could hear the second part of the sentence as clearly as if the king had said it aloud. _Will yours do the same?_  
  


  
  
Days passed by, and they somehow fell all in some sort of routine. On the never ending moonlit nights, Jensen would stare at fish jumping out of the water, like they had learned to fly, wriggling their long silver fins as if they were wings.   
  
The stars kept shining in the sky just like they did when he was still in his forest, but everything looked and felt so different, that Jensen had a very hard time adjusting to it. Sandy spent almost all of her time cleaning, cooking and otherwise making the ruined castle a livable place. It looked like no one had taken care of it for ages, and it was too big for her alone, so though ended up exhausted she still felt as though she accomplished little.   
  
They had still no clue about the other unicorns, and since they didn't know if there was a deadline to all of this, the whole situation was even more stressful.  
  
Jared tried every trick in his book to amuse the King, make him laugh, distract him from Jensen and his mysteries, and some days it worked better than others. Misha, for his part, kept doing all he could think of to get Jensen's attention, but no matter how hard he tried or how many heroic gestures he made, nothing seemed to made the least impression on him.  
  
Jensen would simply go back to looking at the horizon, as if searching for something, while the waves rolled back and forth against the rocks, ignoring Misha's words, his gifts or thoughts.   
  
"Let me help you," Misha would entreat. "What can I do for you? Trust me, please," he would beg. But Jensen would only spare him a glance and then walk away, leaving him sad and alone.  
  


  
  


  
  
"And then he looked at me, and I was actually sorry I had killed the thing. Sorry for killing a dragon, can you imagine it?" Sandy was cooking dinner, and Misha, with the excuse of helping, was unloading his own bottomless sack of frustration. And repeatedly cutting his finger as he tried to peel potatoes. Sandy snickered, as she put another log in the fire.  
  
"Cut away from yourself, not toward" she suggested, before drying her forehead and sitting next to him on the bench.  
  
"You know, Your Highness, maybe you should try something else" she added, and Misha huffed.  
  
"What's left on earth that I haven't tried?" he exclaimed.  
  
"Giants, ogres, black knights, terrible tasks, fatal riddles…for his sake I've become a hero, and gone against common sense and traditions; no matter what I do, my great deeds mean nothing to him."   
  
Sandy sighed, as she started peeling. "Have you ever thought that maybe Jensen is not to be won by great deeds?"  
  
Misha groaned and covered his face with his hands. "Who is he, Sandy? Where does he come from? I don't know any more about him than I did the first day he came here, except that I wish to serve him as you do. As Jared does."  
  
"You will never be able to serve him as we do" Sandy snapped, despite herself, and Misha gasped.  
  
"No, I...of course, I didn't mean it like that. I only want to help him find whatever he has come to find."  
  
"You wish to be whatever he has most need of" Sandy said "and you can't be."  
  
Misha lowered his head. "That much I know," he replied. "But he doesn't speak to me, not a word in all this time! Maybe if you told him..."  
  
"You should tell him yourself, if you want him to know," Sandy interrupted him, "because I'm not about to be convincing him for your sake." With that, she stood up and left, looking for Jensen. Things were starting to get out of hand and she didn't know how to deal with it.  
  


  
  
She found him on the balcony, his eyes closed as he inhaled the sea breeze deeply. "You are cruel to him," she started. "You might give him a gentle word at the very least. He only wishes you to think of him, you know."  
  
Jensen shrugged."He wants me to love him, and for some reason I can't do that" he replied, before slowly turning towards her.  
  
"Who am I, Sandy? Why am I here? What is it that I am seeking in this strange place, day after day? I knew a moment ago, but...I have forgotten."  
  
Sandy would have thought he was joking, if she didn't see the pure, unadulterated confusion in Jensen's expression. What she had feared was actually happening: the unicorn was losing himself.  
  
"The unicorns" she answered, urgently. "We need to know if you are the last, or if we can save them." She was about to grab Jensen's arm and shake him, but even at a time as desperate as this she couldn't stop the feelings of reverie and devotion.   
  
Jensen nodded and stepped back inside, in the ballroom, where there was a giant tapestry of mythological creatures. A unicorn. Once, so long ago that he couldn't remember it anymore, he was different: innocent, wise and full of pain.   
  
Now, suddenly everything felt far and strange and he wasn't sure how much of his original self was left within his human form. "I must go to him," he murmured, brushing his fingertips against the painted creature. "I must face the bull again and discover what he has done with them, before I forget myself forever."   
  
He wrapped his arms around his torso, feeling lonely and lost as he thought about searching for something out of reach he couldn't find, and for a moment his heart seemed to fail him, filling him with sensations he wasn't aware he could feel.  
  
"Jared will find a way down to the Red Bull" Sandy said, moving closer. "He has been searching every day."   
  
Jensen laughed bitterly. "I hope for no help from him" he stated coldly. "He is no magician now, but the king's poor clown. Then again, maybe this is what he was all along and I simply thought I saw something else in him."  
  
This time no respect or awe stopped Sandy from shaking his arm. "Don't you dare talk about him like that," she snapped. "Can't you see he's doing it for you? He plays the fool for King Beaver trying to divert him from wondering what you are."   
  
Her eyes were blazing and her jaw was clenched, and Jensen could see it all in a second.  
  
What Misha wanted from him, Sandy wanted from Jared. And Jared..."How can you be so ungrateful after everything that man has done for you," she growled, still shaking in rage. "He put it all on the line, he risked his life over and over, and all you can do is-"  
  
"Forgive me, Sandy" he interrupted her, grabbing her hand. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."  
Sandy felt her chest clench and shook her head, not following when Jensen retired in his room.   
  
Just then, like every other day at seven, the castle trembled; the Red Bull was going out again. He was probably hunting for the one unicorn that escaped him. They had very little time; either the bull was going to figure out that Jensen was the unicorn, or he was going to turn into a man completely and there would be nothing to save.   
  
Sandy couldn’t help but wonder if it would be that bad for the unicorn to live a mortal life; maybe he'd have fallen for Misha, with time, while her and Jared- "No" she said, out loud, hating herself for even thinking that. Jensen was the last unicorn, the world was going to end forever if he had lost himself.   
  
"He must do what he came to do," she murmured, nodding to herself, trying to remember something, anything that might help, while she took the stairs to go back down in the kitchen.  
  
That's when it hit her: the castle trembled always at the same time. Seven o'clock. _The clock and the Bull must be connected somehow_ she thought, just as Jared got in the kitchen, shivering and soaking wet.   
  
"I can't do this very much longer" he said, hoarsely. "He had me juggling teacups for him all night long. With tea in them!" All Sandy had to offer him was a little smile and a bowl of warm soup.  
  
"I think I have a plan" she explained, once Jared had finally dried up "I think that the way to the Bull's lair is through a clock. We just have to distract the king for a little while longer as we look for it."  
  
Jared sighed."Sandy, he knows. King Beaver knows what Jensen is, I'm sure of it."  
  
"Well, what do we do, then?" she asked, but before Jared could answer, Misha entered, with a few crinkled pages in his hand.  
  
"I've practically got the whole poem now, if you wanted to look at it," he said, shyly, and   
  
Jared narrowed his eyes. "Poem?"  
  
Misha cleared his throat. "Yeah, for-for Jensen."  
  
Sandy squeezed Jared's hand. "Maybe later, Your Highness" she answered, and Misha stepped back, blushing slightly.  
  
"Oh! Sure, of-of course" he babbled, and left in a hurry."So now you're helping him to conquer Jensen's heart?" Jared demanded, and there was so much bitterness in his voice that Sandy cringed.  
  
"No, Jared, not at all," she tried to soothe him as she rubbed his back.  
  
"I have to distract him too, right? We both know Jensen can't be conquered, not with a dragon's head nor with a poem. He doesn't have feelings, not really and he can't fall in love."  
  
Jared's back went stiff under Sandy's palms. "Yeah," he murmured. "We both know."  
  


**Author's Note:**

>  **Not Coming Down From:**  [couch](http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Couch)  
>  **Clawed Chained Heart:**  anxious  
>  **Under The Spell Of:**  America "The Last Unicorn"


End file.
